IceClan's Decision-Lightningstruck
by Stream the Shapeshifting Fox
Summary: This is just my first Warriors fanfiction, and my first fanfiction on this site. I don't really have much to say about this other than that it's a revival of a really old Warriors story I tried writing once. Rated T because it may get bloody, like the actual series.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: A few things before we start. For one, I'm only getting back into Warriors. The last book I read was The Last Hope, and Yellowfang's Secret. So some of the names in here may be the same as in future books unintentionally. Two of them are that I didn't change. But there have been four Robinwings in the seres, so it shouldn't matter too much. And also, yes, this fic is meant to take place in the future, when one new Clan was added, when a cat named Ice took on their own Clan, and eventually, a leader named Tanglestar led them to the lake and they followed and acted like any other Clan. To be more specific, this is after Bramblestar, Squirrelstar, and one other leader.

Allegiances:

IceClan:  
Leader: Snowstar-White, fluffy tom with a large gray patch on his back and yellow eyes

Deputy: Goldfur-Golden tom with bright amber eyes  
Apprentice, Boulderpaw

Medicine Cat: Leafclaw-Gray and brown tabby tom  
Apprentice, Mistsong-Gray she-cat with one dark green eye and one light blue eye

Warriors:

Cindercloud-Gray-and-black tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Scratcheye-Orange tom with only one eye  
Apprentice, Redpaw

Swifttail-Dark brown she-cat with a black stripe on her forehead and green eyes  
Apprentice, Lightningpaw

Skypelt-White she-cat with a black tail and ears  
Apprentice, Batpaw

Frostclaw-Brown tom with white flecks and yellow eyes

Hyenafang-Gray and brown tabby tom with blue eyes  
Apprentice, Jaguarpaw

Orangefoot-Dark gray tom with all orange paws  
Apprentice, Silverpaw

Bluestorm-Blue-gray she-cat with brown eyes and a missing front paw

Nightclaw-Blue-gray tom with one black paw

Cloudleaf-White and gray she-cat  
Apprentice, Sootpaw

Turtlesplash-Tortoiseshell she-cat with gray eyes

Stripedclaw-Old pale tabby tom with green eyes

Mosspatch-Black and white tom with blue eyes

Apprentices:

Sootpaw-Smudged dark gray tom

Boulderpaw-Gray she-cat with a long brown tail

Jaguarpaw-Amber tom with black spots on his eyes and tail

Lightningpaw-Dark gray she-cat with striking yellow stripes

Redpaw-Red-furred tom with a yellowish underbelly

Silverpaw-Silver she-cat with a darker tail tip

Batpaw-Light brown tom with a black stripe down his back

Queens:

Sunfrost-Pale tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Ravenkit and Heartkit)

Rainstripe-Blue-gray tabby she-cat (mother of Graykit, Whitekit and Softkit)

Elders:

Driftyfrost-White she-cat with faded blue eyes

Stormdust-Gray tom with a dented tail

Littlefoot-Pale brown tom, the former deputy

ThunderClan:

Leader: Featherstar-Gray tabby tom with bright green eyes

Deputy: Dapplefoot-Tortoiseshell she-cat with a white muzzle

Medicine Cat: Graystorm-Long-furred gray she-cat  
Apprentice, Spiderpaw

Warriors:

Lionfoot-Yellowish ginger tom with amber eyes

Thornheart-Gray she-cat with yellow eyes and a short tail  
Apprentice, Lightpaw

Dustbird-Dusty gray she-cat

Jetstripe-Silver tabby she-cat with black stripes  
Apprentice, Bramblepaw

Sparkfire-Ginger tom with blue eyes  
Apprentice, Flamepaw

Sharpleaf-Pale cream tabby tom  
Apprentice, Jaggedpaw

Eveningsong-Black she-cat with blue eyes

Lizardtooth-Tabby tom with a heavy muzzle

Queens:

Sorrelheart-Dark brown she-cat

Elders:

Leafsplash-Tortoiseshell she-cat

RiverClan:

Leader: Echostar-Misty gray she-cat with dark blue eyes

Deputy: Waverush-Blue-gray tom with messy fur  
Apprentice, Mintpaw

Medicine Cat: Hailstripe-Gray and black tabby tom  
Apprentice, Thistleleaf

Warriors:

Silverstorm-Silver tabby tom with gray eyes  
Apprentice, Blizzardpaw

Hollyblossom-Pure brown she-cat

Violetwhisker-Soft-furred she-cat

Pikesplash-Dark tabby tom

Wingedheart-Pure gray she-cat with amber eyes  
Apprentice, Fallowpaw

Flintfur-Black tom with bright green eyes

Queens:

Leopardflower-Spotted she-cat, mother of Freezekit

ShadowClan:

Leader: Shadestar-Black and white patched tom

Deputy: Foxtail-Ginger long-tailed tom

Medicine Cat: Branchfoot-Light brown she-cat

Warriors:

Robinfeather-Dark red tabby she-cat  
Apprentice, Ratpaw

Jaywhisker-Pale gray lithe she-cat

Finchwing-Tawny cream tom with blue eyes  
Apprentice, Dewpaw

Mudfoot-White tom with dark brown paws

Twigpelt-Deep brown tom

WindClan:

Leader: Rabbitstar-Light brown tabby she-cat

Deputy: Reedsnow-Tabby soft-furred she-cat

Medicine Cat: Twistedivy-Black and white she-cat

Warriors:

Volefur-Gray tom with black paws

Darkbreeze-Black tom with amber eyes  
Apprentice, Patchpaw

Dawnstorm-Pale cream she-cat  
Apprentice, Mousepaw

Sandfox-Ginger tabby she-cat with white paws

Oakmint-Bracken-colored she-cat with green eyes

Cats Outside Clans:

Spottedflight-Brownish she-cat, formerly of IceClan


	2. Chapter 2

Prologue:

Spottedflight lay down by her kits. Holding her tail over them seemed like a protective action, but what the she-cat was saying begged to differ.

"I'm done with Clan life, and I'm done with being your mate. These kits are mine." she hissed. A brown and gray tom, Hyenafang, was lowering his ears in fear. "Spottedflight..." he tried to say, but Spottedflight cut him off again. "This Clan is nothing but a group of constantly fighting fleabags! All we do is kill and destroy!" she snarled. "And now look who's dead!"

She flicked her ear to the shape of a blue-gray tom yowling in grief, standing above the body of a light brown queen, her alive but weak kit in paw. "Lightningtail. Nightclaw's mate and Swiftpaw's mentor, and by what method? A skirmish that lasted too long, over a stupid hunk of TREES!" Hyenafang looked away in sadness. Spottedflight spat "Which, by the way, was started by you."

"By tomorrow, I'm leaving. And with my kits." She scooped up her three kits in her paws. Hyenafang's blue eyes flashed.

"They're not just your kits." A tortoiseshell queen walked up, her tail twitching. "You may not want to be Hyenafang's mate anymore, but they're also still his kits." Spottedflight turned around and hissed. "Said by the sister of this miserable group's leader!" she snapped. Hyenafang's body trembled, but he dipped his head and closed his eyes. "I really don't want to do this...please don't make me hurt you."

Spottedflight snorted. "You won't. You're monsters in battle, but pushovers in these situations."

Snowstar walked up. Spottedflight flinched.

The large tom stood up, his yellow eyes staring into the queen's. "If you're leaving, Then become a rogue. It's as if you are asking to be exiled. But these kits belong to IceClan. And once you leave, never come back." he muttered sternly.

He looked to his sister. "Sunfrost, please take these kits under your care." Sunfrost nodded and went up to Spottedflight, getting a snarl back. "As if I'd let you without a fight!"

Spottedflight lunged at the other queen, her claws out. Sunfrost yowled in pain but bit her opponent's shoulder. There was a mess of claws and fur, and a mix of painful yells. The bloody paws of Spottedflight got more vicious as Sunfrost screeched in agony. Snowstar yowled as he forced the fight to end.

When the fighting stopped, Sunfrost had the three unconscious kits in her mouth. Spottedflight was breathing heavily and shaking. "Fleabags!" she hissed, and ran away, leaving the kits behind.

The three kits were lay down in front of the scarred Sunfrost, as she sniffed. "A loss of two queens in one day...this can't be good." A blue-gray tabby she-cat walked up. "It's okay. We can name them..." Hyenafang walked up, trying to distract himself from his grief. "I had the names of these two, being Redkit and Silverkit", he flicked his tail to the reddish kit and the pale kit, "but not this one." he muttered as he repeated the action with the dark gray kit. "Perhaps...in memory of Lightningtail, should she be named Lightningkit?" the blue-gray she-cat asked. "That sounds wonderful, Rainstripe. Lightningkit, Silverkit, and Redkit."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 1

Lightningkit's paws shuffled. Her fur fluffed up, coated in white, and the leaf-bare chill lapped at her face. "Why do I have to do this?" she complained, shaking her snow-covered head and paws. "To adapt to the cold! All you're doing is trying to hunt a bit in the snow. Everyone in IceClan has to eventually. And you have a thick enough pelt." called Boulderpaw. "Why can't Redkit and Silverkit, too, though? I don't want to walk all the way through this alone!"

Two moons ago, Boulderpaw and her brother Jaguarpaw, as well as a smoky kit she barely remembered, shared the nursery with Lightningkit, Redkit and Silverkit. But now they were both apprentices, and Boulderpaw was more business than ever before. Maybe it was due to having the deputy, Goldfur, as her mentor. "Can't there be an IceClan version of a drypaw?" "Unlike large water, you're going to end up in snow whether you like it or not. Stop being such a kit." Boulderpaw sighed. "I am a kit!" Lightningkit replied.

"Well, not for long, anyway." Jaguarpaw purred. "Won't you be apprentices soon?" "That's the point, Jaguarpaw." his sister murmured. Redkit excitedly called from the nursery "Really? I can't wait!" "H-hey!" a voice came from behind Redkit. A light brown tom popped his head outt. "I don't want to be alone in the nursery!" "Calm down, Batkit." Boulderpaw flicked her long tail. "You're barely a moon younger. And isn't Rainstripe expecting?" "Yeah, but I don't want to feel so lonely..."

Nightclaw, Batkit's father, walked into camp, a large bird in his mouth. When he dropped it in the fresh-kill pile, he looked to the dark gray kit trudging in the snow. "What are you doing, Lightningkit?" "Boulderpaw said we're almost apprentices, so she told me to try hunting. In this thick snow!" Lightningkit grumbled. Nightclaw purred in amusement. "There's nothing to hunt here! We're in camp! Why don't you get something from the fresh-kill pile instead?"

"Ooof!" Lightningkit tripped over a twig and landed all the way in the snow. "So...cold..." she muttered, shaking. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up by the scruff. "Hey!" the dark gray kit called out, before looking up. Hyenafang was carrying her out. "Oh...thanks, Hyenafang." The brown and gray warrior placed his kit back in the nursery, his tail twitching. "You're lucky your pelt is that furry. You at least won't freeze to death anytime soon." "Are you kidding? I don't like that stuff." Lightningkit flicked an ear. Silverkit, on the other paw, was stepping her paws all over it. "Look at this!" she purred.

"Now, you three, come over here." Hyenafang sat down, beckoning to his kits. "Are you ready to leave the nursery?" he asked with a look of care. "Are...are our apprentice ceremonies really coming soon?" asked Redkit. Hyenafang nodded. "All of you are almost six moons old." Silverkit excitedly jumped to her paws, and Lightningkit's dark blue eyes flashed. "I bet I'll get Snowstar as my mentor!" mewed Redkit, his tail lashing. "You wish! I'll get Snowstar." she purred, puffing her chest out. Lightningkit rolled her eyes. "None of you would, he's busy with his own stuff! He's a leader!"

"All of you will be the best warriors you can be, right?" Sunfrost asked. "Of course!" all three kits mewed at the same time.

Lightningkit purred excitedly. She looked to her father and adoptive mother. "All of us will, I know it." Hyenafang looked away. "I hope you keep that thought."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 2

Author's Note: I apologize for the slight delay. My phone ended up deleting all my in-progress chapters to this story, including this one. So I had to rewrite it. And this chapter is slightly rushed.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey come to Threestones to hear my words!" Snowstar's voice echoed through the IceClan camp. Every cat padded to the clearing as fast as they could, Goldfur, with Boulderpaw by his side, stepping up to the Secondstone next to Snowstar on the Leaderstone. Leafclaw, his brother, and Mistsong were on the Medstone, listening closely.

Lightningkit stayed next to Hyenafang, her tail lashing. Silverkit was already padding up to Snowstar, after being called up. Redkit was trying to get right behind her, but was stopped by Goldfur. "Not now, Redkit." "Silverkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to become an apprentice. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Silverpaw." Snowstar looked to the crowd of cats before him. "Orangefoot." Said warrior came up. "You will be mentor to Silverpaw. You have experienced excellent training from Rowanstripe, and you have shown yourself to be intelligent and strong. I expect you to pass on all you know to Silverpaw."

Silverpaw and Orangefoot touched noses, and Snowstar looked back to the other two kits. "Redkit." The tom excitedly came up, and the leader began again. "Redkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to receive apprentice training. From this day on, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Redpaw. Your mentor will be Scratcheye." Scratcheye came up, dipping his head. "Scratcheye, you are ready to take on an apprentice. Duskwing has taught you well, and you have proven yourself to be brave and reliable. You will be the mentor of Redpaw."

Oh StarClan, thought Lightningkit. It was her turn. After Redpaw and Scratcheye touched noses, Snowstar stared to the last kit. "Lightningkit." Lightningkit scrambled up. "Lightningkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and you are ready to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Lightningpaw. Your mentor will be Swifttail." A dark brown warrior proudly padded up. "Swifttail, you have received excellent training from Lightningtail, and you have shown yourself to be clever and loyal. I hope you will pass these traits onto Lightningpaw."

As Lightningpaw was touching Swifttail's nose, her heart nearly skipped a beat. Lightningtail? There was a cat who shared a name with her? "Redpaw! Silverpaw! Lightningpaw!" the cats called out. Lightningpaw went to Swifttail's side.

After the ceremony, Swifttail's green eyes flashed with interest. "Well, I never thought I'd ever get an apprentice, much less one named after my own mentor." Lightningpaw tilted her head. "You haven't had an apprentice? You look like you're a senior warrior. And who are you talking about?" Swifttail snickered. "Well, some warriors live and die without any apprentices at all." She walked off, signaling with her tail for Lightningpaw to follow.

She didn't even answer my second question, thought Lightningpaw. Who was this Lightningtail? Why was she named for whoever they were? Or was she actually named for her stripes and this was just a coincidence?

Ignoring her thoughts, she trailed behind Swifttail, making pawsteps in the snow. Luckily, the snow was lower than yesterday, so Lightningpaw was much more comfortable as she followed her new mentor. "Wait up, Swifttail!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 3

Swifttail sat down in the clearing. "We'll be starting with fighting. Although leaf-bare is a good time for learning to hunt, other Clans are still starting to lose prey from it. We can't look like fat mice in front of starving ones, unaware that we'll be the first to be eaten by a cat from our own greed." Lightningpaw kept listening.

"Now, you've surely explored around camp before, and noticed that it's a little like some sort of maze." Lightningpaw nodded as her mentor continued, wondering a bit what a 'maze' was. "That's one of our battle advantages, at least when the fight's in our territory. We know the way, they don't." Swifttail puffed out her chest.

"Now, try pretending I'm an enemy. Find your way and attack me." Swifttail ran off slowly, acting as if she was lost, and Lightningpaw ran through the leaf-bare forest. Following both the direction of the trees and the direction of the dark brown pelt, she unsheathed her claws and leapt at her appearing-to-be-unaware mentor. But instead, Swifttail quickly turned around and bit Lightningpaw by the scruff like a kit, thrusting her into the snow.

"So cold..." shivered the apprentice. "Follow my scent, not where it looks like I'm going! An enemy could make a sudden turn or attack." Lightningpaw grumbled as she popped her head out. "Try again."

The dark brown warrior pretended to fight a nonexistent enemy, and tried running off again. Lightningpaw sniffed up. She started realizing the scent of Swifttail's fake-panic. Is that what she needs to scent? And it looked like she'd stopped moving as a whole. Lightningpaw snuck up, her tail twitching, and pounced onto her mentor. "Was that good?"

She didn't answer. "Swifttail? Are you in there?" "Shhh."

Swifttail had lowered her ears and was looking to an open space. Dark shapes began to line the edge. Lightningpaw followed it with her eyes. "What is it?" she muttered as she tilted her head. Swifttail's pupils shrank. "Intruders! From WindClan..." She unsheathed her claws and took Lightningpaw off her back. "They smell odd...are...are we going to actually fight?" gulped Lightningpaw. "Maybe. Or maybe not. It depends on the intent."

Lightningpaw wanted to yell to them to get off, but she saw the border patrol already walking up. Goldfur, Boulderpaw, Bluestorm, Cloudleaf, Sootpaw and Mosspatch. Two cats, a black tom and a tabby she-cat, walked up to them, side by side as they looked to the IceClan warriors. Swifttail looked to Lightningpaw. "Come up, follow me."

"What is it, Reedsnow?" hissed Cloudleaf to the she-cat. "Why are you on IceClan territory?" Reedsnow twitched her whiskers. "What do you mean, 'what is it?' We're here to deliver a message." The black tom stepped up. "Where's Snowstar?"

"We're not going to let you see Snowstar without a reason." Bluestorm snarled. "If this is from StarClan, then why isn't Twistedivy with you?" Reedsnow narrowed her eyes. "As if you care. Twistedivy didn't want to come. And it is from StarClan."

Goldfur stepped forward. "You WindClan cats need to stop speaking so vaguely. Tell us what the message is." The black tom walked up.

"Neither of us have a choice. If we do, we'll be killed for sure."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 4

Goldfur rolled his eyes. "You won't die from telling us a message from StarClan!" he spat, Boulderpaw agreeing with him.

Reedsnow curled her lips back. "Tell that to Twistedivy. She literally heard the words 'Tell someone and you die' in her ear! Not to mention her terrified gaze whenever we said anything to her..." "Then why'd she tell you?" hissed Bluestorm.

"...It was in secret." gulped the black tom. "But it's important." Goldfur looked to Mosspatch. The black and white tom stepped up. "We'll let you see Leafclaw and Mistsong, but not Snowstar. And if you think of any funny business, Rabbitstar will know." Reedsnow nodded, but whispered "She wouldn't believe you more than you believe us!"

As Mosspatch, Goldfur and Bluestorm walked off with the WindClan cats, Swifttail silently eyed them coldly. Sootpaw, the apprentice closest to becoming a warrior, swallowed hard. "Cloudleaf, this can't backfire on us! If they're right, Leafclaw and Mistsong will die...we can't leave ourselves without a medicine cat again." Swifttail turned around. "Sootpaw." Sootpaw flinched. "Let's just resume training." Cloudleaf purred, signaling to her apprentice.

"Us, too, right Swifttail?" Lightningpaw asked. Her mentor turned and nodded. "Okay. Where were we?" "We were learning about using this territory to our advantage." Lightningpaw replied.

Swifttail grinned and began to fake-strike Lightningpaw's face before trying to find her way to the RiverClan border. "Hey!" yowled Lightningpaw as she scrambled after her mentor, following her scent.

-LATER-

Lightningpaw lay in the apprentice's den as evening wiped the sky, her tail wrapped around her body. She had one scar on her front leg from Swifttail, but it didn't hurt her too much. Mistsong had led the WindClan cats back after hearing about the message, which still somewhat scared Lightningpaw.

Redpaw walked back into the apprentice's den. "I asked Leafclaw about the message. He said for me that I was too curious and should leave him alone." Lightningpaw gulped. "We'll just wait, I guess." she muttered.

"Rainstripe, stop!" A sharp yet muffled mew came from outside, alerting some cats. Skypelt was holding Rainstripe's tail back in her mouth, as the blue-gray tabby tried to pull. "I need to hunt! My kits need me to!" Skypelt's amber eyes blazed. "You can't leave them! Sunfrost is outside camp! Just go back to the nursery." The queen shook her head and stormed back. "Fine."

Boulderpaw and Jaguarpaw were proudly presenting the prey they brought to the kits and elders. Driftyfrost in particular was the receiver of most of the prey, being the mother of their mother, Cindercloud.

Soon, the night took its toll and Lightningpaw fell asleep, along with her sister and brother. A dream came, of a dark storm surrounding IceClan. She shuddered and fluffed out her tail, and tried running to each part of the camp before seeing it destroyed. Shaking in her sleep, she woke up with a start. 'Stop thinking about what they said. Stop thinking about what they said.' she kept thinking as it raced through her head, until she forced herself to fall back asleep.

However, by sunrise, she was awoken again, quickly by a yowl. Expecting her mentor to explode into the apprentice's den and start training, she was surprised to see nothing but hear one thing. A sad, terrified voice. "Rainstripe?!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 5

Lightningpaw rushed out of her den. "What happened?" she asked in panic. Bluestorm was at the border of WindClan, shaking. "Rainstripe...Rainstripe's dead!" she cried. Sure enough, at the WindClan border, the blue-gray cat had her three kits, Graykit, Whitekit and Softkit on her belly as she had her throat slit open, blood bubbling on the ground, and her blue eyes faded.

"Was it Reedsnow...?" Lightningpaw gulped. Skypelt's black tail quivered. "It was definitely a WindClan cat. I can smell that terrible stench. Though, whether it's Reedsnow or Darkbreeze...heck, it might have been Rabbitstar." she replied. "She must have been so insistent on getting something for her kits..." Snowstar padded over, picking up Rainstripe's body as Bluestorm took her kits. The blue-gray warrior still looked horrified and grief-stricken. Skypelt padded up and whispered "Poor Bluestorm...her own littermate was killed...if I lost Scratcheye, I wouldn't know what to do."

Lightningpaw ran to Swifttail, who simply asked her apprentice "Shall we try more battle training?", as if to ignore the death of her Clanmate. Lightningpaw nodded but a thought still lingered. 'Was it the message?' she asked herself. But she didn't hear! 'Poor Whitekit, Softkit and Graykit.'

The dark brown warrior fluffed out her fur and lashed her tail. "Are you ready?" "Yes." Lightningpaw mewed. Swifttail pounced on the apprentice, yowling and snarling. Lightningpaw hissed back and lashed out her paw, as if her claws were unsheathed. Swifttail, however, moved her head out of the way and held Lightningpaw's legs down. Struggling, Lightningpaw gulped and tried to bite her mentor, but to no avail. Suddenly, she got an idea. She bit the paws holding her down, and as Swifttail moved her paw up, Lightningpaw flipped on her side and tried pouncing onto Swifttail. But her mentor was fast, and Lightningpaw missed and landed with her paws stroking the snow.

Swifttail purred. "You can't attack your opponent like that, especially if they're able to defend that easily." "That wasn't defense!" Lightningpaw muttered, picking herself up. "You just dodged!" "That WAS defense." Swifttail replied coldly. "What would you do if you saw an incoming attacking cat?" "Fight them off!" The brown she-cat shook her head. "You have so much to learn, Lightningpaw."

Rainstripe was buried later that day by Bluestorm and Snowstar, and her kits turned out to be alive and safe. Lightningpaw looked to the leader as the sun fell. "It looks as though tomorrow will be a Gathering night." announced Snowstar from the Leaderstone. "Nobody in the Clan has identified themself as Rainstripe's mate. I would like to tell all of you that we cannot have any secrets in here. Nor any breaking of the warrior code. This is your final chance to tell any of us that Rainstripe is your mate, and you are the parent of Graykit, Softkit and Whitekit."

Nobody stepped forward. Lightningpaw's heart pounded.

Snowstar's yellow eyes flashed. "I see." he mewed quietly. "This Clan meeting is over."

As the cats walked away, Lightningpaw looked to her Clanmates. None of them looked like they would be keeping a secret, but that was only on looks. She looked to Redpaw, who was padding next to his sister slowly. "It's not Scratcheye, he looks nothing like any of them." he admitted. Silverpaw frowned. "Orangefoot's mates with Sunfrost. She's expecting, too." "And Swifttail didn't care when she died."

Jaguarpaw's tail swished. "We should stop talking about her like this, though. She's in StarClan, and in battle with WindClan, we'll avenge her!" "We don't know WHO killed her, though." Redpaw reminded. Silverpaw nodded. "And who's to say we'll battle WindClan head-on like that?"

Lightningpaw looked to her sister and brother. "I'm sure that the message Reedsnow delivered killed her, maybe from a Dark Forest cat. And her mate, possibly. Whoever they are. And for all I know, someone else in the Clan might be next."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 6

Author's note: Just an in-advance note, this chapter is quite long.

The bright full moon shone above the Clans as the groups of cats streamed into the Gathering. A gray tom, a black and white tom, a gray she-cat, and a light brown she-cat stood near Snowstar and they all began talking amongst themselves, unable to be heard. Lightningpaw looked at the young apprentices she could see, and hopefully meet, but the sea of cats made her dizzy. Boulderpaw walked to her. "Yeah, I know. It confused me, too." she muttered, as if she read Lightningpaw's mind. "Who are they?" "Cats from other Clans. I know a RiverClan apprentice or two here. There's Mintpaw, I think."

A dark brown tabby she-cat ran over, her blue eyes flashing with excitement. Lightningpaw was both interested and slightly shy. Though of course, the other apprentice spoke first. "Hey, who are you? You smell like frozen voles!" "I'm Lightningpaw, from IceClan." mewed the IceClan cat. The other apprentice was about to speak, but then, "Ratpaw!" yelled a large dark red tabby, following her. "I told you to stay with ShadowClan." she lowered her ears, flicking her tail for her apprentice to follow. "Oh, uh, coming, Robinfeather!" Ratpaw gulped. "She's a really rough mentor...well, bye, Lightningpaw!" purred Ratpaw. "Bye." Lightningpaw muttered.

The gray tom next to Snowstar stepped up, his voice silencing the other cats, including Lightningpaw. "Good evening. ThunderClan has been doing well, with three new apprentices. Lightpaw and Bramblepaw are now under the mentorship of Thornheart and Jetstripe, while Spiderpaw is a new medicine cat apprentice under Graystorm's mentorship." He stroked his tail across the rock, as the said apprentices puffed out their chests proudly. "It also seems leaf-bare has not been affecting prey too much, aside from killing off some mice. Hunting has been fine for us, unlike others." he muttered. Boulderpaw snorted and rolled her yellow eyes. "Featherstar is such an arrogant cat."

The black-and-white tom next to Featherstar dipped his head as he stepped up. "Yes, hunting has not been quite as successful in ShadowClan. Not to mention our medicine cat, Cedarfall, has drowned." He dipped his head in grief and several yowls of grief came from ShadowClan, and a few other Clans. "Of course, though, that doesn't mean we're any weaker." he ended with a purr. "It takes more than a frozen-over ground and Cedarfall's death to stop us. Branchfoot is our new medicine cat, although she is not here tonight. And..." He looked to a deep brown tom. "We have a new warrior. Twigpaw is no longer an apprentice. His name is Twigpelt." Twigpelt swished his tail. The leader looked back. "That is all."

A misty gray she-cat gazed at the four other cats around her. "RiverClan has been doing fine, as the ice on the river is quite thin. We can break it, and keep hunting our fish just as easily as before. However, our deputy, Greenwater, has died in battle." More yowls of grief were called. "Waverush will be replacing her." She looked up as the blue-gray tom stepped beside her. "And Leopardflower has kitted. A single kit has been born." Lightningpaw looked over and heard a loud growl from ShadowClan's side, which the RiverClan cats seemed to ignore.

"Is that Rabbitstar?" asked Lightningpaw, as finally, a light brown tabby walked up. Boulderpaw nodded. "WindClan has been okay. However, leaf-bare does take its toll fairly quickly. Snow has hit us, but at least it's beginning to melt." she announced. "We do not have any new apprentices or warriors, but some of our kits' times to become apprentices are coming up." Rabbitstar licked her paw. "That is it."

Snowstar finally came up. "IceClan's state is mixed. Either way, we have plenty of news to share." The IceClan leader cleared his throat. "Rainstripe was killed by the border of WindClan. Her kits are alive, however." Aside from the cries from IceClan, Lightningpaw heard a nervous, almost grieving mutter from the other side of the Gathering. She looked over, straining her ears to follow where it came from. It was from ShadowClan.

Bluestorm made a threatening growl to the WindClan deputy, to which Reedsnow proceeded to narrow her eyes. "And on a positive note, we have three new apprentices. Lightningpaw, Redpaw and Silverpaw, apprenticed to Swifttail, Scratcheye and Orangefoot." Lightningpaw proudly sat up, her dark blue eyes shining. "Hunting has been very successful, and we are confident that this leaf-bare will be a great one for our Clan." Snowstar purred. "This Gathering is over."

The cats split apart, going back to their own Clans. "Did you see that?" snarled Bluestorm. "Reedsnow can't deny that she killed her!" she spat. Boulderpaw walked off with Goldfur, leaving Lightningpaw alone. Trying to find Swifttail, she found herself almost lost in the flood of cats. It was only after she spotted Turtlesplash, Mosspatch and Stripedclaw that she found her Clan.

"Why wasn't Twistedivy there?" Leafclaw muttered. "Branchfoot was gone, too. Was she grieving Cedarfall?" Mistsong asked.

Skypelt looked to Cloudleaf. "That was fast. When's Sootpaw going to be a warrior?" "In a moon, most likely." nodded the gray-and-white she-cat.

Snowstar was staring ahead. "Well, wasn't that eventful." he murmured. "Goldfur, what's wrong?" The deputy flinched as he stopped gazing at his apprentice. "Nothing, Snowstar!" he gulped. Snowstar purred with amusement. "Of course."

Lightningpaw looked to Swifttail. "What happened to ShadowClan?" "Huh? What do you mean?" "I heard a yowl of grief, almost like a cat when their kit is killed, when Rainstripe's death was announced. And when they said Leopardflower kitted, a growl came. What could that mean?" Swifttail tilted her head. "I don't know, they care about us more than RiverClan?" "But so angry over a kitting?" Lightningpaw defended. "And the yowl was longer and sadder than when Greenwater, or even Cedarfall, died."

Lightningpaw thought one thing. 'Is Rainstripe's mate...in ShadowClan?'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 7

Author's Note: Again, I apologize for the late posting of a new chapter. School's killing me, and finals are coming up.

"Lightningpaw!" Swifttail padded into the apprentice's den. "Wake up!" she snapped, loud enough to make said apprentice flinch and awaken. "Hey! Oh...uh...I'm coming. I'll be in the clearing in a bit." The warrior sat down, licking a brown paw. "In a bit isn't fast enough. Come on!" Lightningpaw slumped and reluctantly followed.

Lightningpaw flicked her ear. Now that a moon passed, Batpaw was an apprentice, and Sootpaw's warrior ceremony was creeping up his neck. Snowstar had said it would be soon, but he did not say the exact date, much to Sootpaw's disappointment. He seemed to be restless about becoming a warrior. "I want to be Sootclaw, or Sootfrost." he kept muttering. "But at this point, I'll accept 'Sootcat'. I don't care."

Lightningpaw had finally begun to hunt with Swifttail, though for her at least, battling was easier. She constantly chased away most prey when she tried to catch it.

A skittering of tiny paws came fluttering across the ground nearby, Lightningpaw picking up the sound immediately. She dropped into a hunter's crouch and eyed where the pitter-patter was coming from. A vole. She unsheathed her jet-black claws and leapt at it, snapping its neck quickly. Proudly walking to Swifttail with the vole in her mouth, she dropped it at her paws. "How's that?" Swifttail's green eyes flashed. "Nicely done, but that's only one vole." Lightningpaw nodded. "Yeah, I'll get more! You can count on it." she purred.

Running off, she snuck around and checked for scents. Lightningpaw kept her paws light on the snow, her tail steady. She smelled an odd frog-scent, though it seemed strangely familiar. Crouching, her blue eyes narrowed, and she tried pouncing just as she did with the vole. Swifttail followed her gingerly. "Stop twitching your ear." she whisper-hissed. "The frog'll hear you."

Lightningpaw flattened her ears to her head, unsheathing her claws again. She crept up to the frog, preparing to pounce.

She leapt. And heard a she-cat's voice.

"Pardon me, apprentice!" A sharp mew hissed. Lightningpaw swallowed, meeting the brown eyes of a large red-furred tabby she-cat. Suddenly, Lightningpaw recognized her.

It was Robinfeather: Ratpaw's mentor at the Gathering. Of ShadowClan. Lightningpaw's blood turned to ice.

A dark brown tom snarled towards Robinfeather, sneaking out. "Great job. You gave us away. And you were the one who thought this would be a good idea." Several ShadowClan cats slid out of icy parts of the edge of the territory.

Swifttail snarled and yowled "What are you doing on IceClan?!" She unsheathed her claws, and after looking to her mentor, Lightningpaw followed. Robinfeather frowned. "We were peacefully trying to get Mudfoot's kits home." Lightningpaw gulped. "What do you mean? What do Mudfoot's kits have to do with breaking the warrior code?!"

A ginger tom lowered his head and arched his back. "Do you get it, yet?" Swifttail flinched and her pupils shrunk. "That means-" Three kits stood under a gray she-cat with worry in their eyes. Graykit, Softkit and Whitekit. "Yes." the gray she-cat flicked her tail. "Mudfoot's their father."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 8

Author's note: I just realized I accidentally said Wingedheart was a tom, not a she-cat. I'll fix that in the Allegiances.

Swifttail simply stared in anger. She flexed her claws. "Just because they're Mudfoot's doesn't mean they aren't Rainstripe's, too! They're OUR kits!" Lightningpaw began to quiver. "Should we tell the Clan?" she asked hesitantly. "Yes. We're not letting our kits go like that!" Swifttail growled. "As if you'll have enough cats to get before we get back!" the ginger tom replied. Swifttail swallowed. Cloudleaf and Sootpaw were on border patrol, but the other apprentices were training or hunting. Nowhere near where the ShadowClan cats were. But suddenly, the apprentice saw something from the corner of her eye.

Lightningpaw grinned. "We will!" She flicked her tail to Scratcheye, who was training nearby with Redpaw, but dropped what he was doing as he saw the ShadowClan cats. Robinfeather flinched. "Get the kits home." she mewed to her Clanmates. The gray she-cat picked up the kits in her teeth, but Scratcheye was running over with his claws out. Twigpelt snarled and looked to the other cats. "Just Jaywhisker and Finchwing should go. We can handle them."

She was actually going to fight. Lightningpaw's heartbeat burned in her ears. "You're not getting them that easily!" Scratcheye hissed, as he pounced onto Twigpelt. Swifttail looked to Lightningpaw and her brother. "Me and Scratcheye will hold them off! Go get to Jaywhisker and the kits!" The two apprentices nodded, following the gray she-cat.

Lightningpaw tried to sneak through the edge of camp to prevent the warriors from getting out, but suddenly the cream tom, Finchwing suddenly turned around, his blue eyes shimmering. "Jaywhisker!" he called to his Clanmate. Said she-cat stared at the apprentices, then looked to the kits. Graykit's green eyes shone. "What's happening? Where's our father?" he mewed to her.

Redpaw looked right at the three kits. "Graykit, come with us! Your father may be there, but your family and friends are here." Finchwing's ears lowered. "What will two apprentices do against two full grown warriors? You wouldn't dare risk hurting the kits, would you?" Lightningpaw drew her lips back, unsheathing her jet-black claws and lunged at the tom.

Finchwing hissed, the younger cat scrambling on his back. His blue eyes glinted as he thrust her off, and forced her back to meet his thorn-sharp claws. Jaywhisker whispered something to the kits before fluffing out her fur and trying to lunge at the other apprentice. Redpaw called out his sister's name in agony.

Lightningpaw turned around swiftly, ramming her head into Finchwing's belly. The ShadowClan warrior yowled before biting the younger cat's tail when she tried to run to her brother. Redpaw was on Jaywhisker's leg, nipping her back paw before she delivered a kick. Lightningpaw tried to claw Finchwing's muzzle, but he wouldn't let go of her tail. She shook her entire body violently, lashing out a flurry of paws, but it was only with the last slash over his eye when Finchwing released his jaws from her bleeding tail. Immediately, Lightningpaw rushed to her brother, who was fighting back against Jaywhisker, but losing.

She leapt at Jaywhisker's back, trying to hold on, but the ShadowClan warrior easily thrust her off, forcing her to be slammed onto the ground. However, it provided enough distraction that Redpaw quickly got up, his cheek bloody, and bit his opponent's paw again. "Stupid apprentices!" growled the gray she-cat, before she eyed Finchwing. "Hold on, Jaywhisker!" he called, scooping up the kits. "Just follow me!"

But before he could run to her, a flash of gray came.

"Sootpaw!" cried Redpaw, his yellow eyes glinting. Sootpaw and Cloudleaf were back from the border patrol and were staring at the ShadowClan cats dead in the eye. "Get out of here!" Cloudleaf flexed her claws. A very scratched up Swifttail and Scratcheye were by her side. Sootpaw held down Finchwing while the kits were quivering under Jaywhisker. "Foxtail, Robinfeather and Twigpelt went back to ShadowClan. You're outnumbered." Jaywhisker snarled. "Fine." She and Finchwing retreated while Sootpaw took the kits.

Cloudleaf purred, proud of her apprentice. Lightningpaw stared. 'So THAT'S what happens in a fight...'


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes:

Yes, I haven't done anything with this story in a while, and I'm sorry. I learned something about my stories: I'm better at writing them when I make a timeline of what happens from start to finish before even starting to write the story. The issue is that 1. I did not do a timeline for this, thus making me pretty much make it up as I went along, 2. I grew more invested in a few side characters (Robinfeather, Boulderpaw (then Bouldertail and Boulderstar)), than my main character, and 3. The story is pretty much an unintentional ripoff of Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost's arc in The New Prophecy, because it focused on Lightningpaw finding out Dark Forest cats are trying to possess other cats, and she is almost possessed by Lightningstrike, a ThunderClan warrior who was Thornheart's sister, although unlike TNP, Lightningpaw (eventually Lightningstripe) doesn't have a choice to see her evil sibling. Not to mention since the story is meant to take place over four years, like a Super Edition, it was going long as heck. I can spoil everything in the story if anybody wants, but I have a few scenes I was planning to put into the story that I can post as one-shots. Any suggestions?


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